This patent application will describe the memento selling trade, the occasions when mementos are sold, the current challenges to implementing a successful marketing and advertising strategy using mementos and a novel solution to these challenges. Mementos are distributed or sold in commerce by a variety of means, some of which may involve direct sale by onsite sales personnel or an automated device such as a vending machine. Automated devices of this type may be regarded as the preferred manner in transacting a memento sale given their efficient, accurate handling of a high volume of sales in a centralized location or deployment of an inexpensive workforce to cover a large territory of smaller transactions. Automated devices can vary significantly in size, shape and form, but all operate on the common principle of a direct exchange of money for a memento, whether it is in a form of a token, medallion, souvenir, and other article or object having commemorative value.
The memento in a form of a token, for example, may be further utilized in a commercial transaction similar to that involving currency, which may be exchanged at a later time for a purchase of a good or service, activation of an entertainment device such as an arcade game or simply kept in its own right for its commemorative value and appeal. In the past, sellers of mementos have applied very few creative approaches to their trade. One such creative approach may involve active participation of the purchaser to create a memento using an onsite press and stamp machine which accepts for a nominal fee a relatively low value coin, such as a United States penny, and converts it into a uniquely shaped token to commemorate an event, occasion or attraction. Part of the appeal of such an exchange can be attributed to user participation in creating and obtaining a unique token through manipulation of hand-crank rollers and selection of a design-bearing stamp to be mechanically reproduced and transferred onto the coin's face.
The opportunity to sell mementos has traditionally been observed on two occasions: arcade establishments with coin operated entertainment equipment and impulse purchases by tourists at tourist attractions. Arcades, for example, may use a memento in the form of a token bearing a design unique to the establishment in lieu of currency to centralize the collection of money and practice their trade without dependency on the current supply of the appropriate denomination of coined money. In other memento transactions, a tourist may purchase a token, souvenir or medallion for its commemorative value, and as discussed earlier, actively participate in its creation by selecting a stamp bearing words and images which coincide with a particular tourist attraction or theme park.
The opportunity to expand the use and sale of mementos, particularly tokens, depends on overcoming current challenges to implementing a successful marketing and advertising strategy. Such challenges include the inexistence of a memento dispensing device which integrally attracts patrons for a predetermined amount of time insofar to permit one to engage in an interactive event and purchase a memento while simultaneously affording an establishment the opportunity to gain the attention of the consumer to promote or advertise a certain product or service.
A memento dispensing device comprising the strategic arrangement of lights, sounds and music can collectively attract patrons to the memento dispensing device to make a memento purchase and momentarily observe decorative and video displays which depict promotional offerings being made by the establishment. Memento dispensing devices incorporating these entertaining functions could serve as a novelty item to further the establishment's theme or to promote a business by selling tokens and the like in a fun and exciting manner for the exchange of a good or service at a later time.
Gaming devices such as a typical slot machine offer an inherent attraction to patrons. However, such devices are categorically games of chance where the excitement is primarily associated with their operation, such as the pulling of a lever or pressing a button to set in rotational motion reels bearing a collection of symbols or images of some sort. Although this operation comprises entertaining value to some, the net transaction may or may not yield a payment. In general, such devices by their design operate to avoid providing a payment on each transaction in favor of providing a more random pattern of small to large payments between extended periods of nonpayment. Harnessing the attraction and excitement of pulling a lever or pressing a button and observing the rotation of reels would greatly enhance the experience of purchasing a memento, even more so than the traditional direct money for memento exchange manner common to the memento selling trade.
Currently, gaming devices such as slot machines are categorically considered illegal in some jurisdictions or locations throughout the United States and the world given their stature as a game of chance. Gaming devices lacking the game of chance element while functioning in the capacity as a memento selling device may rightfully and readily permit their use in most jurisdictions where games of chance are prohibited. As gaming devices become old, worn or their technology becomes obsolete, they are replaced with new gaming devices incorporating the latest technologies, thus creating a surplus of used equipment of relatively low value because of their inability to serve any other function besides gaming. This shortfall is readily apparent in the marketplace and represents an opportunity to redeploy these devices using their inherent entertaining capabilities for enhanced marketing and advertising programs or strategies which creatively promote the sale of a good or service of a business or establishment.
In light of the above, a memento dispensing device possessing the abilities to predominately display information about the particular establishment while simultaneously affording a level of entertainment to the consumer for a nominal sum may be desirable to establishments in gaining a greater market share for their product or service. However, in order to be effective, displays and the like bearing advertisements or promotional offerings must be integrated into the body of the device and be readily apparent to the consumer while engaging in the interactive event and consummating the sale of mementos. The memento dispensing device must effectively garner the attention of patrons and increase the excitement of the experience through the use of lights, sound, music, and video. Random light and sound displays integrated into the memento dispensing device can attract the attention of patrons to expose them to strategically placed advertisements for an enhanced marketing campaign. Such devoted advertising space can effectively promote an establishment's product or service. In some instances, the memento dispensing device may be dressed with the establishment's logo to create a themed experience to supplement its inherent entertaining capabilities. Moreover, the memento dispensing device may serve as supplemental means of added revenue through the sale of mementos and advertisements of other companies, establishments, and the like.
A device such as the one described above will create new marketing and advertising strategies. By harnessing the attractiveness of gaming devices to permit the sale of mementos in a manner palatable to the laws of most jurisdictions, such devices can be readily placed in an establishment for initial use to dispense tokens which can be redeemed at a later time for a good or service as previously mentioned. One can easily envision the deployment of a number of memento dispensing devices particularly suited for operation at an establishment to attract and entertain customers while garnering the consumer's attention to observe displayed advertisements. In order to make such a marketing strategy a reality, the memento dispensing device must inherently attract and entertain customers for a predetermined amount of time to sufficiently permit observation of advertisements predominately displayed on video and appearing elsewhere on the device while the consumer consummates the sale of a memento.